Category Archives: Events

For about 10 years, I produced dinner events and conferences for print customers. They took place locally and in Chicago. Their focus? Educating professionals about printing technologies and how to work with the print industry.

With zero experience in the event business (unless a ton of public speaking counts), I just…well…jumped in. (It’s one of those things where it’s better not knowing what you’re getting into, or else you might never take the plunge.)

Every time I planned an event, I corrected something. Maybe it was the format, or the content, or the promotional strategy. I based it on my previous events as well as experience speaking at or attending other events.

There’s nothing like learning from your mistakes.

Because private customer events can be immensely beneficial for a printing company, I thought I’d share these 6 mistakes you should avoid when you’re planning your next customer event.

Your event is all-work-and-no-play. Make sure you build in enough time for your guests to socialize with one another. For my early events, I was so concerned with providing educational value that I jam-packed them with sessions scheduled back to back. My advice to you: Relax! Print customers will attend your event not only to learn but also to meet their peers. Give them time for this. Naturally, refreshments will help.

You forget to provide handouts and other materials. Sounds nutty, right? Yet I’ve attended conferences where this has happened. As you’re planning your event, think about what attendees will take away – literally. Are there important (not tacky) corporate promotional materials to give them? Do handouts of speaker sessions make sense? How about an attendee list? Are there other business-related gifts you want to offer, whether from your company or from sponsors? Sending guests on their way with something in hand will add to their fond memories of your event.

You schedule your event on the wrong day. One of the very first things you should do when planning your event is to pick the date carefully. Naturally, you’ll avoid Federal Holidays. Also avoid religious holidays, especially but not limited to Christian and Jewish holidays. Be mindful of school vacation weeks, if they’re applicable to your guests. If your area tends to get clobbered by snow, avoid certain months of the year. Finally, always do a search on other industry-related events. Don’t schedule your event when similar events are being held.

You neglect to ask attendees for feedback. We crafted our attendee and sponsor feedback surveys well before every event we produced. It’s so incredibly easy (these days I use online surveys by Surveymonkey). Send out emails with your survey link within 48 hours of your event. You’ll have to email attendees at least twice if not thrice. This feedback is pure gold. Attendees will tell you what they loved and what they didn’t. Get ideas for future events. You’ll even gather great testimonials (just make sure you get permission to use them). The key is collecting feedback as soon as possible. Attendee interest will fade with each day that passes.

Your signage stinks. The great and knowledgeable Frank Romano gave me this advice before my first print buyer conference: Make sure your signs are good! It’s one of those niggling details that I left till the last minute and planned way too quickly. He was right. Signage at customer events makes a huge difference. If you’re hosting customers in your sole conference room, there’s no worry. However, if you’re having a larger event in a bigger venue, be sure to have excellent signs that guide attendees to rooms, dining spaces, restrooms, sessions, coatrooms, and so on. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about lousy signage (this usually means nonexistent) while at trade shows. It leaves a terrible taste in your mouth and generates anger and frustration. Who needs that?

You don’t act like a Virgo. Thankfully, I am a Virgo, making me super-organized and worried about the tiniest event detail. When planning your customer event, prepare for the “what ifs,” even if nothing goes amiss. Here’s what I mean, in no particular order:

What if your speaker’s a no-show?

If you have an outside speaker, what’s the contingency plan if he or she doesn’t show up?

Have you confirmed all of your AV needs and tested out the equipment?

Do you have enough staff on hand, and are they trained to answer questions?

Do you have enough handouts? How about pens and paper?

Do your guests have driving directions to your facility?

Did you send all confirmed guests a reminder email on the day or two before your event?

Do they have an agenda of what to expect?

If you’re serving refreshments, is the order complete and the delivery confirmed? Did you check ahead of time to see if food allergies apply to any guest?

Are you using nametags, and are they ready?

Isn’t your goal to have your attendees say your event rocked? Well, I promise these 6 tips will help as you plan your seminar, open house, educational seminar or conference. Your event will be more successful, garner better reviews, and your attendees will count the days, or months, till your next one. Happy planning!

My newest client hired me to help her market a fall event. There was little lead-time left. Were we ready to hit the panic button? No way! With a focus on content marketing that targets the right audience, we’re working together to fill every seat.

We’re implementing marketing tactics I’ve used successfully when I ran conferences. They came from trial and error – but by alwaysputting myself in the minds of ideal attendees.

If you’re planning an event, you must think like an attendee. What will make someone jump at the opportunity to be there?

My advice for building interest that leads to a sold-out event includes these 5 overlooked tips:

1. Answer one key question: “Why would someone want to attend?”

Make a list. Put the heading “Ideal Audience” at the top. Describe the audience in a short profile (type of professional, years of experience, geographic location, industry). Then write down every single reason why someone would want to register. Each reason must have high perceived value to your target audience.

Maybe it’s the company they’ll keep, or the rarity of this type of event. Perhaps it’s a speaker, professional development, or the lure of an incredibly attractive venue that’s a popular destination. It could be a low price or super convenience. Hopefully, your event promises to solve or address a pain point your audience is dealing with. This will guide every piece of your marketing efforts.

2. Identify every channel where you have an audience. Start with the obvious:

Do you have and use a good email list?

Do you publish a regular enewsletter?

In which social media sites are you active? Obviously, the larger your audience in each, the better your reach.

Are you currently a contributor to any industry or professional publication, online and off, or relevant website?

To what professional associations do you belong? Is there an opportunity with any one of them for you to write an article that shines a light on your expertise and therefore links back to your site?

Do you have a decent web site and does it attract visitors?

3. Write out a plan for using every channel for event marketing. The message will be different, depending on the channel. Assign specific dates for each action.

When will your emails go out (to your list, to past attendees, to potential sponsors)?

If you did a news release, where would you send it?

Are there LinkedIn groups in which you’re a member that are ideal for event posts?

When can you tape and publish mini videos about the event?

Do you have time and resources to mail an event postcard?

4. Feature the event on your web site. Have a special, highly visual promo on the home page with links to internal pages that provide full details.

Build out your site with event information, so that links in all of your other marketing efforts point to it.

When you think you’re done with a basic overview of the event, including schedule, pricing, venue details, registration form, and attractive visuals, add deeper content. If you have speakers, include headshots and bios as well as a description of each session and what you’ll. Ask speakers to make mini videos, which you can add to the site.

Add content that talks about who’ll be there. People like to know who they’re likely to meet. If you’re promoting the event to the right audience, they’ll identify with this list of who’s coming and be more likely to register. Social influence is powerful.

If you’ve had previous events and collected glowing testimonials, add them strategically to this site content. Use them in emails, too.

Tape and add mini videos in which you discuss the event.

5. Enlist help from your network. You have a great reputation in your professional network, right? Think about who might help you get the word out about your event, with a promise to return the favor when needed. If an association will share your news with their members, what can you offer in return? How can you encourage past attendees to return and spread the word?

Can you give away some free tickets?

Have you written an ebook that would be valuable to early registrants?

Is there a discount you can extend to past attendees and to networks who agree to help you?

If you have speakers, ask them to promote their participation in their own channels.

A little razmatazz is a good thing when you’re producing a customer event.

For years I produced dinner programs and full-blown conferences for professionals who worked with the printing industry. With no experience whatsoever, but with two uber-capable associates, I jumped into the event business.

How hard could it be?

Hah!

If I had known back then what was involved, I might never have continued.

Every time I had one of my events in the rear-view mirror, I learned new secrets for improving them. And though I’m now out of that field, I get calls from industry people asking for help with their events.

So I thought I’d share just 6 of my best secrets for hosting a successful print customer event. I didn’t know any of these when I started.

Make sure the program or general purpose of your event is attractive to your guest list. If it’s educational, the topics and the speakers have to be spectacular and relevant. If it’s purely social, make it super convenient in every way (date, time, location) and entice your prospects with great food and maybe the chance to win some fabulous prizes.

Plan your event 9 to 12 months in advance. The more time, the better. For starters, pick your date carefully, noting the following: federal, state and religious holidays; school vacations; competing industry events; potential bad weather complications. Aside from getting the date right, you must create and implement a promotional strategy across multiple channels. Proper event promotion takes 3 times longer than you think.

Leave sales out of it. If your event smacks of being highly self-promotional, people won’t attend. Whether it’s a dinner program, an open house, a conference, or a day at the ball park, keep your eye on entertaining or enlightening your guests, not selling to them.

Be professional about everything. Make your event a classy one. This requires attention to every detail and being hyper organized. Develop it well. Describe it accurately. Promote it cleverly. Deliver excellence. Make your guests comfortable. Act like an event “concierge.” Conference guests will complain about bad or insufficient food, cold (or hot) session rooms, lousy signage, and lame speakers. They have every right to, so think like a guest as you approach your event.

Don’t do it alone. Events are a lot of work and might require a hefty investment, so get the right help to do it well. Consider who will handle things like promotions, creating the guest list, registration, venue management, catering details, signage, program development, handouts and giveaways, feedback, speakers and so on.

Give guests a little bit of razzmatazz. Great customer events have a “wow” factor or two that keeps attendees talking about them for long afterwards. Aim for this “long tail” feature. Maybe you had an incredible speaker or held your event in a famous popular locale. Maybe your program was spectacular in ways that competitors can’t touch. Always gather feedback after your event, too.

Approach your customer event with one goal: to knock your guests’ socks off. Make them feel it was well worth their time (and money if you’re charging).

A successful customer event reflects well on your company for a long time. Don’t underestimate the attention you must devote to even the simplest of events you’re hosting. I hope these 6 secrets help.

If you’re planning a customer event and need my help, please get in touch.